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 Argentina striker Lionel Messi will leave Barcelona despite both parties having reached an agreement over a new contract, the La Liga club said on Thursday, citing economic and structural obstacles to the renewal of deal. “Despite FC Barcelona and Lionel Messi having reached an agreement and the clear intention of both parties to sign a new contract today, this cannot happen because of financial and structural obstacles (Spanish La Liga regulations),” Barca said in a statement. “As a result of this situation, Messi shall not be staying on at FC Barcelona. Both parties deeply regret that the wishes of the player and the club will ultimately not be fulfilled. “FC Barcelona wholeheartedly expresses its gratitude to the player for his contribution to the aggrandizement of the club and wishes him all the very best for the future in his personal and professional life.” Messi was free to negotiate a transfer with other clubs after his deal ran out at the end of June, but Barcelona had always maintained he wanted to stay with the club. The 34-year-old was reported to sign a new five-year deal. Messi had tried to leave Barcelona in August 2020, making a formal request for an exit after a break down in his relationship with then president Josep Maria Bartomeu but successor Joan Laporta, who presided over the Argentine’s rise to greatness, convinced him to stay. Messi, who joined Barca’s youth set up aged 13, is the club’s all-time top scorer and appearance maker with 672 goals in 778 games in all competitions. 
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British police have arrested 11 people as part of an investigation into the online racist abuse directed at some of the Black players in the England soccer team following their defeat in last month’s Euro 2020 final.Marcus Rashford, Jadon Sancho and Bukayo Saka were the targets of the abuse after they missed spot-kicks in a penalty shootout with Italy which settled the July 11 final after the game finished as a 1-1 draw.The incident prompted a police investigation and drew wide condemnation from the England captain, manager, royalty, religious leaders and politicians.The UK Football Policing Unit said 207 posts on social media were identified as criminal, of which 123 accounts belong to individuals overseas and 34 from the United Kingdom.”There are people out there who believe they can hide behind a social media profile and get away with posting such abhorrent comments. They need to think again,” Chief Constable Mark Roberts, National Police Chiefs’ Council Football Policing Lead, said in a statement.”We have investigators proactively seeking out abusive comments in connection to the match and, if they meet a criminal threshold, those posting them will be arrested.”Our investigation is continuing at pace and we are grateful for those who have taken time to report racist posts to us.”A Twitter Inc spokesperson said last month they had removed more than 1,000 tweets and permanently suspended a number of accounts, while Facebook Inc said it too had quickly removed abusive comments.
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Thursday marked another day of upsets and surprises on Day 16 of the Tokyo Olympics.The upsets occurred at Olympic Stadium, the host venue for track and field, beginning with the men’s 110-meters hurdles, as 31-year-old Jamaican Hansle Parchment edged 23-year-old Grant Holloway of the United States.Holloway is the reigning world champion in the event and was the clear favorite to win the gold, but Parchment ran down the American over the final hurdles to finish the race in 13.04 (13 minutes, .04 seconds), just .05 (five-hundredths) of a second ahead of Holloway. Parchment’s compatriot, Ronald Levy, won the bronze medal at 13.10 (13 minutes, .10 seconds).The results were worse for the U.S. men’s 4×100-meter relay team, which failed to qualify for the medal race after finishing in sixth place in the event’s second heat. A botched handoff between Fred Kerley and Ronnie Baker ensured the American men would fail to win a gold medal in the event for the fifth consecutive Olympics, the last one coming in the 2000 Games in Sydney.  
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